Missing item from order- proof?

Kira000

Hmm, just wondered if anyone had an ideas on how to progress with this!

I placed an order for 4 items on Weds from a reputable kiddies retailer. Received order confirmation for all 4 items, and a confirmation that the order had been dispatched.
The order arrived absolutely on time on Thursday (yesterday). Opened the package up about 2 hours after it arrived, to find that there were only 3 items inside. I checked, checked and tripple checked that i wasnt going mad, and that the missing thing wasnt hidden in one of the others- it wasnt, and the package was properly sealed when i opened it. I checked my order online, it said all items dispatched, and as one order.
I rang the company first thing today, as it was closed when the delivery arrived.
They have checked their systems which apparently say the item was "picked and dispatched". They are going to ring the warehouse to do a check on stock, but are basically implying that they say it was picked and sent, and therefore if the warehouse cant find the missing item, that is that, my word against theirs!
Obviously there is no way i can prove i HAVENT had the item, but it seems ridiculous that i would lie, as it was not a hugely expensive item, and not the most expensive item in the order either, so for £9.99, would i really bother lying?
I know its not a huge amount, but going on mat leave every tenner counts, anyone got any thoughts on my rights if they insist it was sent, when i know its not here?

chunkychocky

I have never heard of a business to bother doing a stock check to prove whether or not you are lying. I have heard of businesses pretend to do one to see if you back down. I expect that they will determine that they have not sent it to you and will send you another. Out of interest which company is it? If it is a large retailer mistakes must happen all the time so there is no way that their stock system would be accurate enough to necessarily prove it one way or the other anyway.

Kira000

Well, what swings it for me, is that when i ordered (on weds) it said one left in stock.... and this morning it still says one in stock. Hmm. 1-1= ?????

I hope you are right and they are just testing me, but still, its not what i call fantastic customer service thus far to be subtley accused of fibbing. First order may well turn out to be the last one at this rate.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, and see what they say before i sling their name on the post. If however they come back with a sorry, computer says no, then i will certainly be sharing their name far and wide.. Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman !!!!ed off and ripped off..

unholyangel

chunkychocky wrote: »

I have never heard of a business to bother doing a stock check to prove whether or not you are lying. I have heard of businesses pretend to do one to see if you back down. I expect that they will determine that they have not sent it to you and will send you another. Out of interest which company is it? If it is a large retailer mistakes must happen all the time so there is no way that their stock system would be accurate enough to necessarily prove it one way or the other anyway.

You'd be surprised at how easy it is with the handheld computers. Most will have a team dedicated to stock accuracy. The way large warehouses usually work is they scan a storage area, then scan the items they are putting into that storage area. Picker comes along, scans the storage area and the item they are taking out. Stock control comes along, does a blind count. If it is right.....great. If not? They usually then scan each item individually to see what is actually in the storage area and what the discrepancy is. They can then pull up all the transactions for that storage area and - although it may take a little time - they will eventually track it down (and also the employee who made the mistake).

I know one massive online retailer who has 100% accuracy. Unlikely, but true.

If its showing on their systems as being sent, I doubt this company are scanning as they are packing - and i seriously doubt their accuracy is at 100%. Is there anything on the package stating weight of the product? If so, you could perhaps use this to prove the product wasnt delivered?

aliasojo

I had the same issue with Amazon. Twice.

It was soap powder and it came in a triple pack. I ordered 4 of them but only 3 arrived. Obviously whoever picked it just saw the 'triple' part and didn't read any further. No problem getting a refund for the first instance but the second time it happened, it was obvious they thought I was 'at it'.

I was quite embarrassed about it all as it did look beyond co-incidental, but I was genuinely telling the truth. I did get refunded again but I decided not to order any more after that and even now I will take care with multipack ordering and not order the same amount as is in the pack, iyswim.

OP, I hope you get it sorted out.

Kira000

unholyangel wrote: »

I know one massive online retailer who has 100% accuracy. Unlikely, but true.

If its showing on their systems as being sent, I doubt this company are scanning as they are packing - and i seriously doubt their accuracy is at 100%. Is there anything on the package stating weight of the product? If so, you could perhaps use this to prove the product wasnt delivered?

just checked. Both packages say weight 0kg! Helpful or what... Good thought though .

angelil

I will be really interested to see what happens with this as I have had a very similar (if not identical!) situation recently with a different retailer, where the item was marked as sent when it hadn't been and where the company implied that they didn't believe me when I contacted them about this. It may be that it happens more often than you might think